Dreams
by Rena Redhead
Summary: Bright colors. Wind. Strong hands to pull him out of a free fall. Mystery though he may be, she felt she knew him enough to respond with confidence.


**Disclaimer:** Hahahahahahahaha, me, own them? That's a good one.

 **Author's Note:** What is this? Another One-Shot? This is… ha, wow, and I thought my creativity for this series had run dry (I bet you all also thought that too, didn't you? It's okay, I understand, I was rather… dead for a while XD). But wonders never cease. I suppose if you love something once, it never really goes away. For now though, enjoy!

-T-

 **Dreams**

His joyful dreams always involved bright colors. And wind. Like he was weightless for a moment and then gravity would be suddenly reinstalled into the world's programming. Then he would get the thrill of falling and the feeling of success and relief that came when he would reach out and grasp someone's hand…

His dreams weren't like that very much anymore…

In fact, he didn't dream very much at all.

His head collapsed onto his desk slowly, amid the papers scattered across the table. There were trinkets and mechanical toys here and there. Things he had to fix. Scraps of notes. And he still had work to do, but… for right now, his head found a bit of relaxation on the wood supporting his exhausted frame. He felt pathetic. He shouldn't be resting. He was in the middle of research, the middle of fixing his equipment, the middle of… a yawn escaped him and he hated himself for it. His eyes fluttered closed, as though mocking his attempts to stay awake. He forced them open, ever so slightly, just barely for enough of the light from the desk lamp to blur into view.

He let out a breath slowly, taking in oxygen as though it had been elusive as of late. Late. It was rather late…. He pulled his head up and shook it. It didn't matter that it was late. What mattered was his job. Standing up, the teen shuffled out of his seat and dragged his feet across the floor, barely managing to hit the red button which read in tiny print 'open'. The hiss of the automatic door sounded and he wearily made his way to the kitchen.

The moonlight from the bay cascaded in from the large windows, casting a stunningly blue light into the room. It was warm outside, but somehow, the place felt cold. He reached into a cupboard and pulled out a small plate and glass. As he pulled the fridge door open, the bright light hit him, making him squint, before choosing to pull out some small carrots and pouring himself some water.

Walking over to the couch, the Teen Wonder sat down and relaxed against the armrest as he munched on his snack. Hopefully, this would provide enough energy to get him through the night. There was still a lot to be done.

The place was so quiet. He could so easily drift off to sleep if he wanted. But he shouldn't…

The peace that this place could provide was rather extraordinary when he thought about it. Normally, his roommates, friends, and himself... they would all make the place loud and rambunctious. Never a moment's rest. But in the dead of the night, the place was silent and he could just watch the waves rolling outside as the city sparkled on the coast.

In a weird way, it reminded him of his home...

As his eyes blinked, he could almost feel a gaze behind him as though waiting for him to do something. He wanted to smile, like he used to be able to, back at his teacher, his mentor, his…

But now he couldn't. Smiling was something that… he just couldn't bring himself to do for that man. With his friends, it was easy. But with Bruce….

Robin's ears perked up at the sound of the doors opening. Turning his head, he saw his friend, her hair a little messy from sleep, stretch as her eyes adjusted to the dim light as well. But even in the dark, he could see the brilliant green orbs just fine.

"What are you doing the awake?" She asked as her eyes noticed him.

"Couldn't sleep," He told her.

"You could not?" She asked, "Or would not?"

He smiled a bit. See. He could smile. For her.

Starfire floated over to the fridge where she grabbed a glass of milk for herself. Flying over ever so quietly, she sat herself on the floor, crossing her legs. Her hands heated the milk a bit before she took a sip.

"If I am not mistaken, your snack will not help you fall asleep," She commented.

Robin shrugged, "I got work to do, Star. I'll sleep when I'm done."

She nodded slightly before sipping more of her warm milk, "What have you been doing the work on this time?"

He thought for a moment. What _had_ he been working on? He couldn't really… Oh, that's right, "Brother Blood has been recruiting new members to the HIVE. I thought I'd see if I could figure out a way to deter him from achieving his-"

"I thought friend Cyborg was working on that?" She asked.

He let out an innocent shrug, "Yeah, I just… thought I'd give him a hand."

The teen nearly jumped when he felt a hand on his knee, "I wish you would give yourself a hand instead."

He looked down at her, surprised. Almost immediately, she seemed to realize what she had just done and quickly moved her hand away, "That is to say, I know you are not capable of growing a third hand, but in a more theoretical sense or wait, no the theoretical sense is not it, perhaps…"

He laughed a bit, stopping her speech in its tracks, "You're so funny sometimes."

"Oh?" She stared at him, "I… I do not mean to be…"

"It's okay," He told her, scooting off the couch and onto the floor with her, "It's…"

Their eyes met again and he felt his face getting a little red, "…it's cute."

It was her turn to turn a little red, but he couldn't tell as she turned away from the window, hiding her face in mostly shadows, "I… thank you."

She wrapped her hands tightly around the warm mug. It was rather cold in the room. _The Conditioning of the Air must be on high_ , she thought.

"Robin?" She heard herself ask.

"Yeah, Star?" He answered, reaching for his water on the table.

She noticed their knees touching and while she liked it, she felt that she should pull away… but her question distracted her from doing such a thing.

"Why are you consistently working at night? Your body is not immune to a sleep deficiency. It is not healthy for humans to go without sleep…"

Again, a shrug, "I just want to make sure everyone and everything is safe."

"Robin."

Actually looking at her this time, he noticed that she looked sad. Starfire was never one to shy away from her emotions which he normally appreciated and admired. But seeing her sad always made him feel… guilty somehow.

"You… I am sorry, I only… As a friend, I always want to understand you a bit more, a bit better than before and so I… I am sorry," She quickly stated, before moving to leave when he reached out and grabbed her hand.

"No, I…" They both looked at his hand holding her own.

For a second, he gulped, but decided to take a chance. This was his best friend. He could trust her.

He managed, "Come on."

He gently tugged on her wrist, motioning for her to take a seat beside him. Though surprised, she complied and sat next to him, leaning against the couch with him. Pulling her legs up to her chest, she waited for him to speak.

"I... suppose I just want to live up to what's expected of me," He said quietly.

"I do not understand. Do you feel we expect something from you?" Starfire inquired, her eyes furrowed.

"No, no, I mean, yes, but, not… I know you and the others expect me to lead you and that's fine. I'm okay with that. I like to, I'm happy to… I guess I… you know I used to live in Gotham before, right?"

She nodded. The alien, though she had never been to Gotham, had heard about it quite a number of times since coming to this earth. And she knew Robin had lived in Gotham, worked there before, but none of the Titans ever really asked about it. The most she would ever hear about it was when Beast Boy would impersonate someone called "The Batman" or Cyborg would ask for details on the latest version of the "Batmobile". From what she understood though, this "Batman" character was someone Robin knew and used to work with. But he never spoke about him, so she had never pried.

"Well, I used to work there with the Batman, right?" He continued, "But uh, we had a falling out kind of. Like, it used to be fun and enjoyable, but at some point, he just started to criticize the way I did things, and uh, I just, I just didn't want to take it anymore…"

He was shocked any of this was coming out, but somehow it felt kind of good to say it, "So I guess… now that I'm here, I sort of want to prove that he was wrong. That I am capable of handling myself…"

Man, he must have sounded like such a loser by admitting that. But again, a surprise occurred that evening as he felt Starfire rest her head on his shoulder as her hand slipped into his and held it tight.

She may not have always understood him. She didn't know why he shut himself in. She was always taught to be open with others. But sitting next to the boy wearing the mask, she realized how differently they actually lived their lives and, indeed, how little of himself he actually showed her. The mask, she was sure, likely hid an entirely different side of his life from those around him. She knew it was to protect people, himself, his family, his friends, even her, though it didn't make it any less estranging. But what he did show her through their friendship, it made her feel warm inside... happy, glad, safe, making her want to see more… but when he was ready. Kind of like tonight. Gently, a smile peeked at the corners of her mouth.

"I think… you are more than capable of 'handling' yourself, Robin," She said softly, confident that she knew him well enough to state this with certainty, "You are the most capable, strong, smart, and… wonderful person I know."

If he thought he had been red before, well, he must have smoke coming out of his ears now.

"So… I may not be 'The Batman', but as your friend, I hope that can be counted for something," She finished.

Now her face felt red and what was worse was that Robin could probably clearly see it to. He didn't look though because he was trying to hide his own cheeks too. So instead, he just focused on her hand in his and slowly, he smiled.

They stayed there for the rest of the night, just sipping their drinks and enjoying the other's company. As time passed, their drinks were finished but neither moved. Despite the beautiful scenery in front of them, as their eyes got heavy, they only found themselves capable of focusing on one another's chests move up and down as they breathed, sometimes even being able to sense a heartbeat or two.

As the sun rose the next morning, their friend Raven came in to get her herbal tea, when she found them both asleep, still leaning against the couch. She rolled her eyes and smiled before leaving to block off the other two idiots that would ruin the moment. Despite the sunrise, they both remained sound asleep, as bright colors and wind continued to dance around their dreams.

-T-

 **A/N:** I seriously have NO idea where this came from. Like, at all. I wrote this with no plot in mind. None. At first, I thought it was to be an angsty little story for Robin because we all know those are some of my favorites and then… cuteness? Hopefully? I don't know. It was odd. But I hope you enjoyed it. Please review! Feel free to check my homepage for some new updates. Till next time!

Later,

~Rena


End file.
